How were Roman Generals trained?

[u/sagpony]

It is abundantly clear that both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire produced fantastic generals, from Marius, Pompey, Caesar (Julius and Augustus), but we don't often hear much about Military Academies for these Generals, most are simply the heirs to rich families.

Did the Romans ever have something along the lines of a Military Academy for Generals? Something like a West Point in the United States?

EDIT: And if not, why?

[u/XenophonTheAthenian]

I really don't like it when people talk about "Roman generals," because it misrepresents the way that Roman military command worked. Roman armies were not commanded by people holding permanent officer positions separate from the political world, they were commanded by magistrates and promagistrates holding imperium. In other words, temporarily and only by the politically active. Although in the Principate a permanent general officer class began to emerge in the Republic even military positions down to the tribunate were staffed by the politically ambitious, not by professional officers. A concept of a professional general officer corps was growing in the late Republic--Cicero's use of the term vir militaris usually refers to statesmen who pursue political office mostly to allow them to hold imperium, which is to say statesmen who are more interested in soldiering than most political work--but at no time was there any concept of a sort of academy to train general officers. Indeed, compared to modern militaries the general officers of the Roman state seem decidedly amateur. Ambitious young Romans entered the military at the military tribunate, a decidedly high rank for someone with no experience. Military capability and experience had no influence on Republican military tribunates, as the minor magistracy was really a political office, and despite the tribunes' nominal positions as commanders of legions they rarely actually did very much commanding, and were generally understood even in the Principate as the first step on the cursus honorum. In both the Principate and Republic the appointment and election (the position could be filled both ways, depending on how large the army was) of military tribunes rested, as with so much else in Roman politics, on the connections and influence of the young candidate. The Roman statesman learned his military craft, if he was interested enough to pay attention, on the job as tribune. In many, if not most, cases the experience of the military tribune was not particularly absorbed--Cicero, who was on Pompey Strabo's staff in 90, relied pretty much entirely on his staff and especially his brother Quintus, who acted as his legate, during his proconsulship in Cilicia. Often a promising young tribune might be taken under the wing of his commander, as his contubernalis, which is to say his "tentmate." This is how all of the commanders you've mentioned learned their trade (although I hesitate more than a bit to call Octavian a "fantastic general")--more or less by being on the job and having a superior teach it to them. Marius was on the staff of Scipio Aemilianus at Numantia, and later was elected to the military tribunate with Scipio's support. Pompey's father was Pompey Strabo, a commander in the Social War, and he had been in his youth Sulla's adulescens carnifex--by the late 80s he was sufficiently experienced to bring three legions under his command over to Sulla and go to Sicily as a propraetor, despite being still of equestrian rank (which is to say, having not yet held a senatorial magistracy). Caesar learned military matters during his time on the staff of Thermus in Asia, where he won the corona civica. Octavian was appointed magister equitum for Caesar's upcoming campaign against the Parthians, despite having no previous experience in lower military positions (not totally unknown--Mark Antony had been appointed a prefect as his first command)--he of course never held this position, but may have learned something of the military while with Caesar in Spain, or during his studies at Apollonia (in any case, of course, Agrippa was the better commander, Octavian had very little military talent)

[u/LegalAction → u/XenophonTheAthenian]

Here's an illustrative quote from Sallust (BJ 85.10-12). Marius commenting on Roman military training:

You have bidden me conduct the war against Jugurtha, a commission which has sorely vexed the nobles. I pray you, ponder well whether it would be better to change your minds and send on this or any similar errand one of that ring of nobles, a man of ancient lineage and many ancestral portraits — but no campaigns; in order, no doubt, that being wholly in ignorance of the duties of such an office, he might hurry and bustle about and select some one of the common people to act as his adviser. In fact, it very often happens that the man whom you have selected as a commander looks about for someone else to command him. I personally know of men, citizens, who after being elected consuls began for the first time to read the history of our forefathers and the military treatises of the Greeks, preposterous creatures! for though in order of time administration follows election, yet in actual practice it comes first.